Catholic bishops across Illinois announce church reopening plans as other religious groups mull way forward

The Archdiocese of Chicago and other Catholic dioceses throughout the state announced phased plans to begin reopening Catholic churches, starting in Chicago with small gatherings for baptisms, weddings, funerals and confession as early as May 23.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been under increasing pressure in recent days as smaller churches have sued the state, trying to lift the almost two-month-old stay-at-home order’s application to religious gatherings. The governor added “free exercise of religion” as an essential activity to his revised stay-at-home order late April 30, after a rural church filed suit against the plan, and Catholic leaders soon after said they were working on a plan to reopen churches. The Catholic bishops reached an agreement with the state Wednesday, according to letters posted on their dioceses’ websites.

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Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh did not say Thursday whether his administration has been in touch with leaders of other faith organizations, but leaders of other Christian denominations said they also are working on reopening plans.

“The Catholic Church developed their own plan that fits well within the requirements of the stay-at-home order that we have in place,” Pritzker said Thursday during his daily briefing on COVID-19.

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“I’m actually very pleased. I think they did an excellent job with the plan that they put forward.”

Abudayyeh said Pritzker’s office recommends any essential organization, such as churches, work with public health experts on reopening plans.

Cardinal Blase Cupich said Thursday the archdiocese has been in “constant conversation” with government health officials and elected officials since the coronavirus outbreak began. Last week, after the archdiocese approached state officials about possibly reopening, Pritzker asked them first to present a proposal, Cupich said.

The archdiocese coordinated with the other Catholic bishops in the state, Cupich said.

"We convened the other dioceses and said we would like to do this in a united way," he said.

After receiving input from the other dioceses, Cupich said he and archdiocesan staff made a slide presentation to the governor’s office last week that outlined how Catholic churches could gradually open in a “staged and phased” way. Cupich said he also spoke with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Under the plan for the Archdiocese of Chicago, which covers Cook and Lake counties, smaller gatherings could start as soon as May 23, depending on preparations in each parish. But because “our movements will be restricted as that plan unfolds in different phases," Masses will continue to be offered in private and livestreamed or broadcast, not opened to the public, Cupich said in his letter.

Public adoration of the Eucharist and the reopening of churches for private prayer could begin as soon as May 30, according to Cupich. It’s unclear when regular Masses would begin again, because that will depend on lifting state and local gathering restrictions, according to the letter.

The other dioceses will follow slightly different schedules. In the Diocese of Rockford, small Masses could begin May 25, while the dioceses of Joliet’s and Peoria’s anticipated openings follow the same dates as those in the Archdiocese of Chicago, according to letters from those dioceses’ bishops.

Churches in the Diocese of Springfield have been open for private prayer and confession and gatherings of fewer than 10 people, at least since Pritzker’s revised stay-at-home order. And as of last week, the faithful have begun receiving Holy Communion, according to a letter from Bishop Thomas Paprocki.

“As the situation may be unfolding rapidly, parishes are reminded that they must await approval from the diocese before resuming public Masses,” he wrote.

Plans for the Diocese of Belleville were the last to post Thursday morning. A representative for the diocese said a plan was crafted and distributed Wednesday night, it just wasn’t immediately posted to the diocese website.

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Bishop Edward Braxton in his letter addressed the varying feelings among Christian faithful about reopening. He said some believe that because there haven’t been as many infections in southern Illinois as in the Chicago area, church activities should not have ceased, while others believe people “have greater trust in God and confidently assemble for Mass trusting that Jesus himself will protect us from harm.”

“As your Bishop, it has been my responsibility to ask you to do everything possible to follow faithfully the best available disease-mitigation practices to contain the pandemic’s rampage through our communities,” Braxton wrote.

“The Catholic Church has been responsible and proactive and we appreciate their efforts to keep their parishioners safe,” Abudayyeh wrote in an email.

Other religious organizations also are planning for their congregations’ eventually gathering again, whenever that might happen. State and local organizations for denominations including Southern Baptists and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have spelled out how to come together again as restrictions are lifted.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago plans to implement a ”comprehensive set of conditions-based protocols” in the coming weeks to progressively reopen churches,” according to a statement posted to their website earlier this week.

Chris Varones, a Metropolis spokesman, said the church is committed to increasing parishioner participation in religious services as soon as possible, but their chief priority is ensuring they can do so safely.

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“Our focus is not on a particular date when this would be permitted, but on the conditions that would allow such participation without unnecessarily risking people’s health,” he said.

Bishop Jeff Lee said the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago is putting the final touches on a phased reentry into church buildings.

Under the plan, Episcopal church buildings will not begin to reopen until June 1, Lee said. The first phase will be quite modest, only opening so churches can broadcast and stream their services from inside the sanctuary. Churchgoers will not be allowed.

After the initial phase, the churches will allow small groups of people to enter, but that is dependent on public health indicators, Lee said.

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“We just think it’s prudent and consistent with Christian values to act and refrain from acting in ways that could put people in danger,” Lee said. “We’re duty-bound to care for the most vulnerable folks among us.”